Deaf babysitter pleads no contest to allowing baby to drown in tub

Babysitter Mariah Berry is accused of letting a 9-month-old… (Seminole County Sheriff,…)

March 21, 2014|By Rene Stutzman, Staff Writer

SANFORD – A 20-year-old deaf woman today pleaded no contest to leaving a 9-month-old baby in a bathtub and walking away for more than an hour, allowing him to drown.

Mariah Berry faces as much as 35 years in prison, but Circuit Judge John Galluzzo this morning indicated he's likely to give her less than that.

A sentencing score sheet recommends that she be imprisoned for 14 years, according to Assistant State Attorney Sara Shumway.

The judge made no promises but at one point suggested he might sentence Berry to five or six years in prison.

Berry, who had been free on bond, was handcuffed and ordered to the Seminole County Jail until her sentencing hearing May 5.

At it, the baby's parents are expected to testify. They were in the courtroom today but said nothing.

Berry was sharing an apartment with the children's mother, who left for work July 23, 2012, leaving Berry to watch her children.

According to Shumway, Berry drew a bath for the baby, Byron Molina Rios Jr., and his 2-year-old sister and placed them in it then left them alone for more than an hour.

She discovered there was a problem when the 2-year-old came to her, saying, "Baby, baby," Shumway said. When Berry went to the bathroom, she found the tub overflowing and the baby in the water face down.

He was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead a week later.

Berry pleaded no contest to aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect.

She said little during the hearing, showed no emotion and answered most of the judge's questions using sign language.

Berry's adoptive mother, Susan Berry of Maitland, told the Orlando Sentinel in an earlier interview that her daughter suffers from schizophrenia and has an IQ of 80. Mariah Berry had lived in 30 foster homes before Berry and her husband adopted her when she was 14, Susan Berry said.